VENDOLO – frazione of Castione Adevenno!

Posted byVirginia MerliniPosted inUncategorized
VEDOLO – Frazione of Castione Andevenno – Wall Madonna painted 1723

VENDOLO – frazione of Castione Adevenno! I am still searching for the fourth fresco of Francesco Ambrosione. I have written to the Lombardian Cultural Center about its location and today they forwarded my inquiry to the researcher who posted the link about his work. I have a source that claims that his fresco is in Castione Adevenno. So today that is where I went to look. But – this small village is spread all over the face of the mountains and has many tiny nuclei – 15 frazioni total – or 16 if one counts the ½ frazione of upper Barboni that one must walk to since it cannot be reached by car. And all these tiny towns have homes clustered tightly together which means I will be entering private yards once again in my search.

VENDOLO – frazione di Castione Adevenno – walking to town from Castione on via Vendolo

Because the task is daunting and I had a second source that claimed a Wall Madonna in Vendolo – one of the frazione – I explored the center of Castione and then walked to Vendolo. I found three Wall Madonna’s there – none by Ambrosione and one too eroded for more than a memory of the original figures and their colors. I found some great doors and a fabulous gentleman who spent 50 years living in Varese and then retired to Vendolo. He opened the historic Mulin de la Rusina for me – the 19th-century mill that provided all the flours for the villages. I really liked Vendolo – a small collection of stone houses with a large pizza restaurant overlooking a fabulous cascade the torrents of which still feed the old grist mill and make the hamlet noisy with the sounds of rushing waters. I redefined success on the sunny side of the Valtellina today and I look forward to tomorrow. Enjoy these doors – some great views – and my new Wall Madonna’s

VENDOLO – door

VENDOLO – frazione di Castione Adevenno – There is a fabulous 19th-century mill here. The caretaker opend it for me. The works are all original and the wood is local chestnut. The mill is still functional although it is no longer used.

VENDOLO – frazione di Castione Adevenno – Mulin de la Rusina – 19th-century grist mill. This is local wood – chestnut!
VENDOLO – frazione di Castione Adevenno – Mulin de la Rusina – this is the pork fat used to grease the large wooden mechanical parts of the mill.
VENDOLO – frazione di Castione Adevenno – the water wheel of the Mulin de la Rusina. It was a warm day but the wheel was covered in ice.
VENDOLO – frazione di Castione Adevenno – doors!
VENDOLO – frazione di Castione Adevenno – great door!
VENDOLO – frazione di Castione Adevenno – view of the Valtellina. The sun on the hills allows olive groves to thrive here.

VENDOLO – frazione di Castione Adevenno – Wall Madonna. This fresco greets one on the way to the small frazione of Guasto. The large rehabbed farmhouse sits on the western edge of town.

VENDOLO – frazione di Castione Adevenno – love this door!
VENDOLO – frazione di Castione Adevenno – love this door!
VENDOLO – frazione di Castione Adevenno – a great window with ever-present shutters to keep out the cold
VENDOLO – frazione of Castione Andevenno – a great view

VENDOLO – frazione di Castione Adevenno – A view of the Valtellina

VENDOLO – frazione di Castione Adevenno – the first Wall Madonna one encounters when entering the village from Castione. It is very faded but there were two saints flanking the Great Virgin.

VENDOLO – frazione di Castione Adevenno – the first Wall Madonna one encounters when entering the village from Castione. It is very faded but there were two saints flanking the Great Virgin.

VENDOLO – frazione di Castione Adevenno – even renovated homes retain their old wooden doors.
VENDOLO – frazione di Castione Adevenno – this is the center of the frazione and this great house and Wall Madonna decorated the piazza.

VENDOLO – frazione di Castione Adevenno – this is the center of the frazione and this great house and Wall Madonna decorated the piazza. This Wall Madonna is the one featured under the title of the blog.

ENDOLO – frazione di Castione Adevenno – the door to the previous house

VENDOLO – frazione di Castione Adevenno – great door. The area is a wine region and was and is prosperous. There were large houses here. This is the mansion in the town center and it faces the small piazza and has a Wall Madonna on the right side wall.

Published by Virginia Merlini

I am a retired academic - a sociologist, sociolinguist, ethnographer, and photo-ethnographer. I am building this website and blog to share my passion for the public and private art of Italy. My main focus is on the Wall Madonna. The concept ‘Wall Madonna’ is my own. It is the name I give to the art found on the external walls of many of the homes of the locals which depicts Mary – the woman called Theotokos – God-bearer. I use Wall Madonna to refer to those images frescoed on the outside of homes and public buildings, or the paintings, carvings and statuary attached to the same. My intent is to examine Wall Madonna’s as a type of visual language and gesture in order to come to an understanding of their function and purpose in Italian social life. In searching for Wall Madonna’s I try to present a broader harvest of my quest so that the towns and cities I visit are frescoed for the reader in my blogs. Therefore, I like to include streetscapes, doors – which have a language of their own, vistas, and the life of the people as reflected in the things one sees as one peruses a town. Because my family is from the Valtellina and because the valley is lush and beautiful and steeped in history - and an abundance of Wall Madonna’s – I have a small home here. I love the Valtellina. I hope my photos capture your attention. There is no greater joy than sharing this art with others.

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